Sear & finish

Grillränder & yta

Browning needs a dry surface and a hot grate.

Dry it. Pat the meat dry just before it goes on. Wet meat steams instead of browning.

Oil the meat, not the grate. A thin coat of rapeseed or avocado oil. Oil on the grate drips and flares.

Preheat. Lid down for 10–15 minutes over a full fire, then brush the grate clean.

Over direct heat. Never press the meat into the bars. It only squeezes out juice.

Grill marks
  1. 1. Lay it across the bars at ten o’clock. Leave it two minutes.
  2. 2. It lets go when the first marks are set. Turn it to two o’clock for two more.
  3. 3. That gives a crosshatch. Flip it and repeat on the other side.
A heavy cast-iron grate beside a thin wire grate, both over glowing coals

Cast iron grates. Heavy bars stay hot under cold meat and leave wider, darker marks than thin wire.

Sliced smoked brisket with a black peppery bark and a thin pink ring under it

Bark. It builds from the rub and the smoke over hours of low heat, and coarse salt and pepper give it texture. Don’t spritz until the rub stops smearing. If you wrap, use butcher paper, because foil steams the bark soft. Sugary rubs burn on a hot fire.

Smoke ring. The pink band under the bark forms early in the cook, where smoke meets the meat. It tells you nothing about doneness, so check that with the probe.

Butter at the end. For the last minute or two, spoon melted butter with garlic and thyme over the meat on the cool side. Over coals it burns.

Olive oil off the grill. A light mist as it comes off makes the marks shine and holds flaky salt. On the fire, olive oil smokes.

If the fat flares up, move the meat to the cool side until the flames die down. Flames coat the meat in soot.